Law and judiciary

Russian businessman Nikolai Doroshenko was released from prison in Sihanoukville over the weekend after the Supreme Court granted him bail due to his poor health, more than two months after he was jailed on charges related to a dispute with his recently deported investment partner, ...

The Cambodian government is trying to weather criticism over the lack of transparency concerning the proposed draft law on NGOs that is now in the hands of the National Assembly. But another important draft law regulating trade unions is being heavily criticized for violating international ...

Rights groups want Cambodia’s parliament to hold a consultation with civil society about a controversial draft law on nongovernmental organizations approved Friday by the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, which has long demonstrated animosity toward organizations outside of state control. ...

A controversial draft law to regulate Cambodia’s NGOs has passed a major hurdle and will be moved on to the National Assembly for legislative debate. Om Chandara, a spokesman for the council, told VOA Khmer that two articles were withdrawn at the behest of Prime ...

A monk who is a member of the Khmer National Liberation Front (KNLF) – a dissident group branded a terrorist organisation by the government – was sentenced to seven years in prison yesterday on treason charges for distributing KNLF literature in Phnom Penh.​ ...

The Cambodian government has been taken to task in a lengthy report by Amnesty International for two years of “violent repression.” Researchers for the human rights organisation found that between Nov. 2013 and May of this year, people’s basic rights to assemble were stifled, excessive and ...

Cambodia is refusing protection for almost 100 Montagnard asylum seekers fleeing persecution in Vietnam as four refugees travel from Nauru to the impoverished nation under a controversial $55.5 million agreement with Australia. ...

Following the intervention of Indonesia’s ambassador to Cambodia last week, 10 Indonesian nationals left the country Sunday after being released by police in Kandal province, where they were being held over a $161,000 theft at a local casino, an embassy official said. ...

Cambodia received one of the lowest scores in the World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index 2015, released Tuesday, ranking 99 out of 102 countries surveyed. ...

Two opposing camps of unions representing a large share of the country’s roughly 700,000 garment workers handed in petitions this week to the U.S. Embassy and others asking for their support on a controversial draft union law during a visit to the country from a ...

The Cambodian navy on Monday formally took control of Koh Damlong, a remote island that was slated to become the crown jewel of Sergei Polonsky’s offshore tourism project before the Russian developer was deported to Moscow to stand trial on serious fraud charges, officials said ...

A senior US diplomat has raised concerns over a proposed law to govern NGOs in Cambodia. Hor Namhong told reporters Tuesday the draft law is not meant to impose undue burdens on NGOs. Civil society will have a chance to comment on the draft when ...

Russian businessman Sergei Polonsky, who was deported to Moscow last month to face trial on serious fraud charges, could be allowed to return to Cambodia in five years’ time, an immigration official said Sunday. ...

In anticipation of World No Tobacco Day on Sunday, Phnom Penh’s City Hall called upon tobacco companies to stop the illegal advertisement of cigarettes and for district officials to start enforcing non-smoking zones, in an event at Wat Phnom on Friday. ...

A couple was arrested and sent to court yesterday after attempting to sell $38,000 in fake diamond jewellery to a gold vendor in Preah Sihanouk province, according to provincial military police.​ ...

Almost 1,000 Cambodian soldiers have been deployed along the Vietnamese border in Ratanakkiri province in an effort to combat crimes including “illegal immigration”, military officials said yesterday. ...

A Cambodian migrant worker was shot dead by a Thai foreman at the construction site where he was working last week in Thailand’s Chachoengsao province, a border official said Sunday. ...

A lawyer for Russian developer Sergei Polonsky has filed a complaint with the Preah Sihanouk Provincial Court accusing the son of his former business partner of defamation for disseminating a letter that claims Mr. Polonsky paid officials $250,000 to imprison his father. ...

The Tourism Ministry has downgraded the one-year operating licenses of two hotels where children recently drowned in swimming pools in an effort to make them compensate the victims’ families and carry out safety upgrades. ...

The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia re-elected Van Sou Ieng as chairman—a position he has held for nearly two decades—at its annual general meeting on Saturday but approved a new two-term limit on the two-year post. ...

After five months in jail, a woman whose family is embroiled in a bitter land dispute with tycoon Khun Sear was released on bail from Prey Sar prison on Friday, though the fight between the two parties remains unresolved. ...

Two companies collecting commission from tourist-boat operators on the Tonle Sap lake in Siem Reap province have been closed down on orders from Prime Minister Hun Sen, according to the provincial governor. ...

Russian businessman Nikolai Doroshenko, who was jailed in March on fraud charges relating to a dispute with his former investment partner, Sergei Polonsky, will on Monday receive a decision from the Appeal Court about his latest request to be freed on bail. ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Thursday resumed its questioning of Major General Thong Sarath, a Defense Ministry official charged with orchestrating the murder of tycoon Ung Meng Chue in November. ...